How To Get Free Pots For Plants – Yesterday morning I was out walking Lucy and I kid you not, I spied a beautiful terra cotta pot just sitting there alongside the road! It was like the universe was trying to tell me something. 😉 It was crazy.
I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but the month of May is the BEST time of the year to score free containers for your gardens. Think about it, people are shopping like mad this time of year for plants. All those plants come in containers!
So keep your eyes peeled!!! Seriously, you’ll be surprised at what you can find alongside the road {or at the end of people’s driveways} this time of year. Especially on trash day!
Here are some more of my favorite tips for how to get free pots for plants:
Big box home improvement stores
Every spring I see big racks stacked with free containers at Home Depot and Lowes. If you don’t see one, ask someone who works in the garden center.
Repurpose items that you already have
Items that you’d normally just toss in the recycling bin; egg cartons, empty cans, milk jugs, coffee cans, egg shells, empty kitty litter buckets and my favorite, Costco rotisserie containers.
Craigslist/ Freecycle/ Facebook Marketplace
People LOVE to give away free things. It’s just in our nature. Look up your town on one of these sites and see what comes up. You may just be surprised.
Ask around
Two heads are better than one. A magical thing happens when you tell someone you are looking for something {like how to get free pots for plants}. Maybe they or someone they know has just bought a bunch of plants and wants to get rid of the containers they came in.
Recycling centers
I have found a lot of my larger {think 5,10,20 gallon} heavy duty containers at recycling centers. Some will let you take them, some won’t. But you won’t know unless you ask!
Grocery stores and bakeries
Back when we were living in Washington state and I had a greenhouse, I was able to score a boatload of 5 gallon containers from the bakery at my local grocery store. Not only was I able to go home with all the buckets I could carry, they all matched too!. 😉
So there you have it. That’s my yearly PSA about finding free containers for your garden.
They’re out there! Now go get ‘em. And hey, Happy gardening season!!!
~Mavis
Rosemary says
I save the pots that the plants come in (after transplanting them). Eventually they will get used for seedlings. I recently needed to buy a couple of planters and found some for $1.15 at Epsteins (local gardening center) which made them cheaper than Dollar Tree ($1.25) and they are much thicker and nicer.
Chase says
Another source is any sort of commercial place that landscapes the grounds with flowers and such. They typically use annuals, so they replant every year. Think retirement Jones, apartments, strip malls, etc